Since the start of the Ancient Age brand in 1946, there have been a whole slew of similarly named Ancient Age bourbons. There's the regular Ancient Age (with one "Ancient"), which has had ages of 3 and 6 years, as well as at least one without an age statement. These bottlings were released at 80, 86, 90, 100, and 107 proof at different points in time. Then there was the Ancient Ancient Age 10 year old (hella ancient), which was recently sneakily replaced by the Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (no age statement, not hella ancient?). The version I found while scouting curios was the Ancient Age 86 proof, which had no age statement. Since it was bottled in the early '80s it may or may not have some old glut whiskey in there; about that I have no idea.

Ancient Age has been made in the same distillery over the past 68 years, though it has undergone name and ownership changes. The location was often known as the Leestown Distillery, sometimes as the OFC Distillery, sometimes as the George T. Stagg Distillery, sometimes as Albert B. Blanton Distillery. It was run by Blanton, Stagg, and E.H. Taylor at various times. Around the time of Prohibition, Schenley Industries bought it. Some folks say that it was called Ancient Age Distillery for a while, some folks say that was never its official name, rather AA(A) was just its best-selling brand. The Ancient Age brand itself was sold to Age International in 1983. Age still owns the brand and produces the whiskey at the same distillery, now known as......Buffalo Trace Distillery. (Here are a couple of my sources: this and this.)

Today, Ancient Age is a 3 year old 80 proof bottom shelf bourbon made from BT's higher rye mashbill. The bottling I have was obtained for all of $9.69, but I have no idea what its mashbill was.

Upon opening this bourbon six months ago, I was immediately struck by its massively astringent, salty, and medicinal palate. It was odd, but I kinda liked it. With time and a little oxygen, the bourbon in the bottle mellowed slightly but remained unusual. The notes below are from samples I took at two different parts of the bottle.

Also, posting simultaneously with this review, My Annoying Opinions will be reviewing a sample from this very bottle as well! Here's the link to his review!

So much going on here: Ancient Age just opened, Peatin'
Meetin' notes, a mystery man in the shadows, and
yes an empty bottle of Finlaggan.

MID-BOTTLE
The color is dark woody brown. The first thing that strikes me about the nose is how malty it is, a good ex-bourbon cask malt. But then in rumbles some oloroso sherry. Then Old Spice aftershave. After that, it's all bourbon. Corn syrup, caramel, and honey with some peppery rye hints around the edges. It smells like it's going to be a sweetie. But on the palate, it's not. It's still somewhat astringent and medicinal. Some toffee thrown in. Then it picks up its case of the weirds. Shaving cream smell (as a flavor), hairspray, and a hint of soap. So there's this chemical angle, yet it's still fully palatable (for me). The chemicals don't stick around in the sweeter finish. Some salt and caramel. Spices like black pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Maybe a little of the soap sticks around.

BOTTOM THIRD
Most of that malt note is gone now from the nose, though a nutty sherry remains. It's much more vegetal and corny now. Savory herbs, corn chips, paint fumes. Then some rye seeds to go with a lot of caramel and vanilla. Vanilla and caramel also lead off a palate which seems to be cured of the chemicals. Though that soap hint remains. Much more corn whiskey now. It's sweeter, spicier, savorier, and saltier. The chemical thing peeks in at the finish, along with ripe banana, black pepper, and granulated sugar.

So, this bottle gave me three whiskies for the price of a bottom-shelfer. Pretty swell deal, I'd say. As mentioned above, the top of the bottle was a raw sharp medicinal stinger. The middle of the bottle smelled great and tasted strangely. The bottom third was more like a contemporary bourbon of better than acceptable quality for a $10 bottle. One thing was consistent though: It does not work in a mixed drink, highball, mint julep, etc. It just doesn't play well with others.

I'm sort of mystified as how to grade it. So I'll have to provide a disclaimer to whatever number I make up. I like it A LOT more than the previous two Curiosities, and would even consider getting another bottle if I found one for $10 again. If you wind up discovering a bottle of this (with the faux tax stamp), and want to get in on the weird, I don't recommend letting too much oxygen get to it. Split it up amongst your friends peers and watch everyone make faces.

Rating - 81 (Disclaimers: 1. Rating only covers this era of this bourbon, not the current version. 2. The whiskey changes often in the bottle. 3. It can be a little weird. 4. You should probably disregard this rating altogether.)